Verus Financial Partners Inc. Purchases New Position in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 2,235 shares of the retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WMT. Brophy Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Walmart in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,072,000. Bank of New Hampshire grew its stake in shares of Walmart by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 47,949 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,786 shares in the last quarter. Iowa State Bank increased its position in Walmart by 213.8% during the fourth quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 26,807 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $2,422,000 after acquiring an additional 18,263 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Walmart by 4.6% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 47,659,844 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,848,533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,107,197 shares during the period. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Walmart in the 3rd quarter worth about $541,000. Institutional investors own 26.76% of the company’s stock.

Walmart Stock Performance

Shares of Walmart stock opened at $97.97 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $787.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.20, a P/E/G ratio of 4.46 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Walmart Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.04 and a twelve month high of $99.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $93.07 and its 200 day moving average is $83.19.

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The retailer reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $169.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $167.69 billion. Walmart had a return on equity of 21.78% and a net margin of 2.92%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Walmart Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $94.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Roth Mkm upped their target price on Walmart from $81.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Bank of America raised their price target on Walmart from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Walmart from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Walmart from $81.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Walmart news, Director Robert Edward Jr. Moritz purchased 5,446 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $91.81 per share, with a total value of $499,997.26. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 7,805 shares in the company, valued at $716,577.05. This represents a 230.86 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP John R. Furner sold 13,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.96, for a total transaction of $1,220,100.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 568,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,859,472.96. This trade represents a 2.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 137,177 shares of company stock worth $12,649,328. 45.58% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc engages in the operation of retail, wholesale, other units, and eCommerce worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Walmart U.S., Walmart International, and Sam's Club. It operates supercenters, supermarkets, hypermarkets, warehouse clubs, cash and carry stores, and discount stores under Walmart and Walmart Neighborhood Market brands; membership-only warehouse clubs; ecommerce websites, such as walmart.com.mx, walmart.ca, flipkart.com, PhonePe and other sites; and mobile commerce applications.